One of the things I love most about etsy is the fact that I can trade for some AMAZING items! The latest trade was with SojournCuriosities who does some of the most unbelievable wire wrapping I've ever seen! She was nice enough to trade two of her pieces for an original painting of mine. I got the red heart key piece and she made a beautiful purple wire wrapped key necklace for my gf. I'm planning on making a custom shadow box to display my piece in :)

Pictured below are the two items we received today - but be sure to visit her shop for dozens more!!

I have been so busy with school and my internship over the last few weeks that I've really been neglecting my etsy shop. I had a wonderful customer purchase a few things over the weekend that wiped out almost half my artwork! (Which I'm SO not complaining about lol).

My goal this weekend was to get 7-10 new pieces done...which is a lofty goal but luckilly I've finished one so far!

"Snowfall on Silence" - The second photo is of the piece tilted so you can see the snow better!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Sooooo....here are the goodies from our giftbasket!!! I was suprised to see that they actually included a basket, most 'basket' giveaways don't because of shipping. The CYA/SAFE team doesn't play around with their giveaways!!

Let me try to give a shout out to the individual stores who included their items! (pictures and some descriptions taken from their etsy shops!)

http://www.anhoki.etsy.com/ Sent this AMAZING perfume! (Her #3). It contains Orange blossom, magnolia, apple, lime, strawberry, sandalwood, clove, patchouli, amber and the tiniest hint of baby powder and as she describes it is the 'most hauntingly sensual' fragrance! She also included her "Voodoo Love" soap which I'm not sure if this is the same as the photo I took from her etsy (that photo is of Infinito Amore) but it's totally a fun and super flirty smell! I can see myself using this after a day at the beach before going out for drinks or something :D

http://www.bathartisansoaps.etsy.com/ Sent a full bar of her 'serenity' soap. OMG - this smell is to die for! It's subtle but sexy like woah and I cannot WAIT to use this! "This bar has gentle notes of French Lavender, Fir Pine, Egyptian Jasmine and sweetened with vanilla then to balance soft notes of delicate musk."I love that when I smell the soap I can actually smell each individual fragrance in their equally - she's like a fragrance genuis or something lol.

http://www.copperlilly.etsy.com/ Included her Almond Champagne bar - again, the smell is just a perfect combination of fragrances without being to strong - Christian loves this one!! It's described as "A sweet and fizzy champagne with a delicate almond scent" - who doesn't love champagne and almonds lol.

http://www.bellalunacrafts.etsy.com/ Sent her Chocolate Bliss bar - now...this may shock you since I am in fact a female but I'm not actually a huge fan of chocolate. I don't eat it regularly and have never been "OMG" over the fragrance BUT...this soap is definitely the exception! I can't WAIT to try it and I hope I smell just like the bar when I get out! I must admit I thought about licking the bar - just a little bit - because it smells so delicious!

http://www.soapscentsations.etsy.com/ Thank goodness SoapScentsations included her Pomegranate Loofah disc soap because I surely need it lol! I LOVE Pomegranates and her soap is so simple and natural smelling/looking and I can't wait to scrub down with this! :D

http://www.theivorymagnolia.etsy.com/ Sent her Cherry Lime Mint Soap and not only is it my favorite color (pink) but a scent combination that I never would have thought of that smells SO PERFECT together!! I haven't even taken the plastic off yet (trying to keep these babies for a while!) and I can smell the beautiful fragrance completely through it - this is like, luxury hotel type soap folks lol.

http://www.themuddymoose.etsy.com/ Woohoo now the 'fun' stuff! :D The Muddy Moose sent in Cinnamon massage oil and a massage candle! Now I was curious as to what a 'massage candle' was but the instructions are clear: Burn candle, blow out candle, use candle wax in massage! Umm...yea, can't wait to try this and her edible massage oil as well!!!

http://www.thistledelightsoapworks.etsy.com/ Christian and I are already fighting over this! Thistle Delight sent in Three Butter Bliss intense Moisture and it feels INCREDIBLE! Christian wants to claim it for himself but I think we may be mature enough to share it equally :)

http://www.beyondthepicketfence.etsy.com/ included her Earth Tones Salt Scrub (different from pictured above!) which I will probably be out of in a few weeks because I WILL be using this religiously! It has everything in it from Dead Sea Salts to Olive Oil and Shea Butter and its like, your skin winning the lottery!

Now - My BIGGEST apologies but in my excited frenzy of opening up everything I've misplaced the tags for two items! If someone from the CYA/SAFE team could let me know who sent these two I would appreciate it! One was the original poo soap (LOL!) and the other was Rose-a-Liscious and the tag looks like it says zozea.etsy com but that's not a valid shop.

So, my biggest, biggest, BIGGEST thanks to everyone who contributed to the basket!! I LOVE it and am seriously taking it out of the linen closet every few hours just to take them all out and smell them one at a time again lol.

Will also be updating later with reviews of the FANTASTIC basket we just received from the CYA/SAFE teams giveaway! It's absolutely undeniably AMAZING and I can't wait to show off pics of all my new goodies!!

After many weeks we FINALLY have prints available of my original artwork! Right now only one is listed ("13 Please") but I will be listing "Her Dream" later today. There was a problem with the other prints I ordered so I will be returning those and hopefully listing the new and improved prints next week.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Last week we received an offer for a full size sample from burntmill soap shop. Even though we just won the awesome giveaway basket from the CYA/SAFE soap team this is our first time actually trying handmade soap!

First off - I was surprised to see how much it lathered! I know that is a concern many first time soap buyers have and I can tell you it DEFINITELY gives off as much bubbles as commercial soap (maybe more even!)

Secondly - the soap left my skin feeling clean AND hydrated. No weird residue, no slimey-ness, nothing but cleanliness and softness!

Finally, the smell is delicious! She sent a bar of Forbidden Fruit and a small ball of stonehenge. Forbidden Fruit smells a lot like tutti frutti - very fragrant and sweet!Stonehenge is definitely more subtle and somewhat more 'masculine' - although it still is very gender neutral (I LOVE it!).

Here is the forbidden fruit we received (I tried to take my own photos but they looked like crud - so this is from her etsy shop)

And here is stonehenge!

Best of all - this particular batch of stonehenge came out a little too dark, so it's on sale for only $2.50! I would definitely grab some if I were you! :D

Thank you so much for the soap burntmill - I've had a wonderful first experience with handmade now!Visit her shop at http://www.burntmill.etsy.com

My girl and I had a great Valentines day yesterday! I made homemade pizza and calzones (us Brooklyn kids make the best) and for gifts we decided to let each other pick out something we've hearted on etsy (since we both have pages and pages of favorites!). Imagine our surprise when we both picked out an item from the same shop, a fellow Etsy Dark Sider, BellaLili! (http://www.bellalili.etsy.com/)

Here is my choice - a beautiful Nocturne Victorian black ring

And she picked the 'Love is a Four Letter Word' necklace....

We can't WAIT to receive our items and will definitely post pics of them 'in action' when we do!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

My gf and I like to go to the cemetary on the weekend to work on art and gather ideas for future pieces. On this particular day we brought along a very special friend, my ugly. He was the result of a wonderful trade I did with fellow etsian Amandine. (Visit her at http://www.amanidineforet.etsy.com ). Hope you enjoy the pictures!

I was SO excited to get up this morning and see I had a message on etsy from one of the organizers of a contest I entered. The contest was put together by Etsy'sCYA/SAFE team and two winners were to receive baskets full of the most amazing goodies from their members.

The question you had to answer to enter was: What does Valentines Day mean to you? There was 1 winner for the funniest, and 1 for the sweetest. Now - I'm all for romance but I saw that many were going for the 'sweetest' post so I tried my shot at 'funniest'. Here was my response:

Valentines day for me means:- Letting my girlfriend force me into watching period pieces- Letting my gf gossip about her friends and tell me every little detail of her day and for once, actually pay attention :)- Buying my gf chocolate, even though she's always on a 'diet' and doesn't want me to, yet it's gone the next day!- Getting in trouble for picking the 'wrong colored roses'- Buying the 'naughtiest' card from the store even though I know she'll get mad at me because it's not 'sweet'...but I like to do it just to irritate her a bit :)Yep, that about sums up every Valentines Day for me!

I guess it was pretty good because my lovely gf is going to be SUPER surprised when she receives the basket from them! I cannot thank them enough for this and you all should check out their blog and see for yourself how talented their members are and how beautiful their products are!